The Activation Relationship to Father and the Attachment Relationship to Mother in Children with Externalizing Behaviors and Receiving Psychiatric Care

Abstract

The activation relationship refers to the emotional bond a child develops with a parent that helps ensure the regulation of risk-taking during child exploration of the surrounding environment. As a complement to Bowlby’s attachment theory, activation relationship theory provides a greater understanding of the impact of fathering on child development, focusing primarily on parental stimulation of risk-taking and control during child exploration. The overarching objective of this article is to better understand the association between children’s relationship quality with both parents, via the activation to father and the attachment to mother relationships, and child externalizing behaviors in a clinical sample. Fifty two-parent families (40 boys and 10 girls) were recruited at random from a population of children receiving treatment at the perinatal and early childhood psychiatry clinic. Results with 44 children (with complete cases) showed that overactivated preschoolers displayed more externalizing behaviors than did children with either an activated or an under-activated relationship with their father. Results also showed that children with a disorganized-controlling caregiving attachment to their mother marginally presented with higher levels of externalizing behavior.

Associations of parent–adolescent closeness with P3 amplitude, frontal theta, and binge drinking among offspring with high risk for alcohol use disorder

“…It predicts the existence of sex differences such that mother-child relationships are considered as supportive attachment relationships, whereas father-child relationships are considered as activation relationships. That is, mothers tend to engage more in caretaking of children, whereas fathers' interactions with children (often with sons), involve play, recreation, goal-oriented actions and tasks (Paquette et al, 2021). Therefore, in father-child interactions children have opportunities to develop emotion regulation, inhibition, and problem-solving skills which seem to be the underlying brain processes represented by larger P3 and higher FT (Li et al, 2020).…”

The Impact of Stress and Parental Verbal Abuse on Early Childhood Emotional Development

“…Aspects of social development are important because humans are basically social beings who need the help of others to do something that cannot be done alone [2]. The quality of the child's relationship with both parents influences the child's externalization behavior, children who have less organized parenting attachments with their parents show more externalizing behaviors such as showing physical aggression, low attention, being rebellious, angry outbursts, and hyperactivity [3]. Aggression occurs when children experience emotional dysregulation, namely when children experience painful feelings and make excessive emotional reactions, such as showing extreme behavior, for example, thrashing, kicking.…”